Dear
Friends,
It is with much anticipated joy that I write to you
today! First of all let me say thank you
to each of you that blessed us with finances for our recent trip to minister in
Alaska. We can say that God did some
amazing things in the lives of those that we ministered to and also in both Amy
and my lives. We had opportunities to
minister to people through multiple settings.
We were able to participate in outreaches to the homeless community of
Anchorage and also, to many wonderful Alaskan Natives through times of Bible
Study, and also through preaching and altar ministry. God was faithful to move freely among each
of us. As you know from our previous
letter, this trip was for many reasons.
One of which was to look into a ministry opportunity that our
Intercultural Ministries Director and also the Superintendent of the Alaska
Ministry Network asked us to pray about.
The church that many of you heard us speak of during our times of
itineration, “Anchorage Native Assembly of God”, has been without a Pastor since November 2013. As of this past Sunday, we were voted in as the
New Pastor! This is a unique situation,
as the church cannot fully support a Pastor financially. We are able to fill this position, due to our
current supporters and hopeful future supporters along with what the church can
afford. We are still keeping our U.S. Missionary
Status, but will be labeled as U.S. Missionary/Pastors of Anchorage Native
Assembly.
Let me tell you more about this wonderful opportunity. Anchorage Native Assembly (A.N.A.) is approximately
95% Alaskan Native. This church has a
fingerprint that reaches into every village of Alaska.
It is a kind of “Crossroads” church similar to what we read about the
church of Antioch. The potential to
reach EVERY village in Alaska with the life changing message of Jesus Christ is
in this church. They currently live
stream the services directly into several villages. Also, as people travel into Anchorage from
the villages for supplies or to visit with loved ones or to try to get a new
start in life, they find themselves looking for a Native Community such as
A.N.A. We believe God to help us identify
and train future leaders and ministers in this church to be sent out to reach
every area of Alaska! Just as you may
remember from our times together, this is a huge portion of the ministry that
we felt God calling us to. We are
overwhelmed at the potential to reach into villages all across the Alaskan
landscape! Initially we thought that we
would be in one village trying to reach it and its people, but God has opened
this door to reach into all of them! I
am always amazed at how God’s plans are so much larger and more than we could
have imagined!
Another opportunity that A.N.A. presents is the ministry to
the homeless community. A.N.A. has weekly
outreach to the homeless people throughout Anchorage. You probably remember me sharing about this
need while I was with you. During the
cold winter weather, they feed approximately 350-500 homeless on a weekly basis
and also have them in the church services.
There is a major need to reach out with the love of Christ Jesus and be
His hands and feet extended to each of these people. Many of these have deep emotional, mental and
spiritual scars from being the products of rape, child abuse, molestation, and
incest. Many turned to alcohol and drugs
to numb the pain and found themselves on the streets of Anchorage. This outreach into the community may be the matter
of life and death, both physically and spiritually for many people!
The third opportunity that A.N.A. presents is Missions
Trips. Many of you have expressed the
desire to come and assist with ministry in Alaska. Since we will be based in Anchorage, this
will make flying in a lot easier & less expensive for each of your
teams! There are many needs, and as such
many opportunities for ministry! We can
work out all the details after we get there and get established in our ministry
calling!
For it to be possible for us to fulfill this calling, we need
a few things. First we need your
continued prayers and financial support!
Without your support, we cannot go.
If the support doesn't maintain, we cannot stay, as we would have to
return and raise more funds. This would leave this ministry without leadership.
We are so thankful for each of you that God has partnered us with! We know the sacrifice that each of you are
making both as a church and also our individual supporters! We know that each of you are being the hands
and feet of Jesus extended by faithfully supporting our ministry! On behalf of my family, and all those that
God is sending us to pour into their lives, I say Thank You!!! Secondly, we are making plans to be back at
A.N.A. by the middle of April. This
means that we must now hit the ground running.
We will have approximately 4 weeks to sell the majority of our household
items, sell Amy’s car, obtain an enclosed trailer, pack what we can take, raise
enough support to make this relocation trip, and say good bye to our family and
friends. So to say that we are going to
be busy is kind of an understatement. It
will take approximately 2 weeks of driving (due to weather), to go from here in
NC through Canada and back into Alaska.
We truly appreciate your prayers during this entire time!
Many of our Support
Team (Churches & Individuals) has asked how they can help, so here is a
list.
1.)
18’-20’ Enclosed Trailer: (with trailer brakes); this is of EXTREME importance for relocation.
(If you or your
church is considering this, I need to know a.s.a.p. so that I don’t try to
finance one)
2.)
Relocation Finances: To move 5,500 miles is a major
undertaking. We need our Supporter
Churches to consider taking up an offering for this & our Individual
Supporters to consider a onetime donation.
It is requiring many thousands of dollars to cover fuel, food, lodging,
and many other relocation expenses!
3.)
Monthly Financial Support: If you have been waiting till closer
to time to begin your monthly support, now is that time! We need as many of you as possible to partner
with us to make this possible.
For the Lord
of the Harvest,
Rev. Phillip
J. Boswell
(U.S. Missionary/Pastor
of Anchorage Native Assembly)
